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Many lice are specific to a single species of host and have co-evolved with it. In some cases, they live on only a particular part of the body. Some animals are known to host up to fifteen different species, although one to three is typical for mammals, and two to six for birds. Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host. [5]
Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood. [1] Humans are the only known hosts of this specific parasite, while chimpanzees and bonobos host a closely related species, Pediculus schaeffi. Other species of lice infest most orders of mammals and all orders of birds.
Psocodea contains around 11,000 species, divided among four suborders and more than 70 families. [1] [2] [8] They range in size from 1–10 millimetres (0.04–0.4 in) in length. The species known as booklice received their common name because they are commonly found amongst old books—they feed upon the paste used in binding.
Most adult species are light tan to brown in color and are usually 1–4 mm in length, although some livestock species can grow to be 5–7 mm, and some wild bird species can even get to 10 mm. [2] Mallophaga are often adapted to live on a specific part of their host and typically spend their entire lives on a single host.
At least three species or subspecies of Anoplura are parasites of humans; the human condition of being infested with sucking lice is called pediculosis. Pediculus humanus is divided into two subspecies, Pediculus humanus humanus , or the human body louse , sometimes nicknamed "the seam squirrel" for its habit of laying of eggs in the seams of ...
Having coevolved with their specific host(s), phylogenetic relationships among bird lice are sometimes of use when trying to determine phylogenetic relationships among birds. [3] Earlier all chewing lice were considered to form the paraphyletic order Mallophaga while the sucking lice were thought to form the order Anoplura. Recent ...
Head lice have been a dreaded parasite for years, with some schools temporarily shutting down over lice outbreaks. But while many schools and day care facilities have a policy that someone with ...
Genera and species within the family Menoponidae are identified by their short antennae, concealed in grooves behind the eyes. [4] To the untrained eye, it may appear as though they have no antennae. [4] Most lice also further specialize to specific regions on their hosts such as the fluff at the base of the tail, the head, and the shaft. [5]